Soulja's 1st Iris Slideshow

Well you're in the right place for that Rob Correia! I'm a happy newbie learner myself. Thanks so much. Yours are doing great so far too. Keep on it man. Blooms away!

Crimson Twist just opened about an hour ago!

O OOO

Wow! Soulja, I would have never guessed you where fairly new to iris. They all look wonderful.
I have a garden sign that says PLANT YOUR DREAMS. I think you did.
Teresa in KY

Teresa You have quite a few beauty yourself from what I saw!
George

Thanks, George
Isn't gardening a super hobby. It is good for the soul :)

oh yeah, Teresa is another who helped me so much last year, whether she knows it or not, (esp. with daylilies). What a garden BluegrassMom has. Thank you. Another Ky Wonder. Much obliged.

I always tell friends who see my garden that I gained maybe 5 yrs. knowledge by just being interactive on Dave's for a solid year. Question? Answer. simple as that. I observed & studied without posting anything for at least 6 months. And to be at this point where I feel brave enough to do this thread.... is exhilarating, even though I'm just an infant starting to walk. ((( I want all the Arilbreds I see now. I want to go all Margiempv UBER style on the iris forum! *ha... {;-D

Soulja,

I've been watching your new beds from the beginning. You did a fantastic job. And this is only the first year bloom! Years two and three will be really impressive..

Lots of friends showing up on this thread! LOL

Soulja, what is the name of the bright orange one in the first post?

We are all friends here in the iris forum.

gosh pollyk too? I am honored. Thank You.

The bright orange one is Penny Lane and it's probably the biggest iris out there.
I love when the bud forms between the falls of another. Clump 'em up tight I say.

2 years ago a lady wanted to thin her beds. She had ordered a collection from Schreiner's years before, but had not tagged the plants. I have beauties, but so many NOIDs.

It was so wonderful to see what you have done, hard work and love of plants is a win-win, not only will you enjoy the fruits of your labor, but all the rest of us can enjoy thorugh your photos!

Just beautiful...great job!!!

Soulja,

Did you use a color scheme for the irises? And did you do just TBs, or did you plant some medians too?

Hi, Soulja,

I'm so happy I stumbled upon your Iris slide show. You must be thrilled with the results of your imagination (and hard work!) Very beautiful!

And beautiful photography, too. I really enjoyed studying your photos.

Now, let me ask about your new garden--did you plan it as a 'labyrinth garden'? It's a very interesting lay out.

t.

Hello Iris people & thanks y'all. I did do a color scheme for the circle & it is a kind of Labyrinth, except with a dead end... yet it's easy to hop back on track... I was gonna reserve the middle for plants from my (our) friend Carol Eads seeds & a fountain or bird bath.

I know most folks don't put same colors together lest you lose the individual, but I laid it out like a rainbow in order to get a whole bed effect. Within each color section I tried to put selfs near multi colors (term?) to help keep each one interesting within these limitations. Though i doubt we'll get the whole bed fired up 'til next year. I kept with the color scheme for Spring & summer bulbs too so there are 3 rounds of color for the season, and most irises are rebloomers out there too.

I did it like Wanda with tons of bulbs & a few daylilies tucked between the irises. But Wanda had a bed that went from cool colors in Spring to fully warm colors in summer. I like that idea too. I have lilies & Glads & Cannas popping up right now and the reddest tulips just got done. Spring was outstanding and the rainbow was great. I followed the iris scheme: From deep red to orange, yellow, white, light blue & violet to dark blue, ending with black, (outer rim) fading to inner rings of lighter cool colors again then finally scrolls around toward the center with hot candy colors: pink, peach with blue etc. "Punch" is in there and some other red/blue multi colors.

I want to be on my neighborhood's garden tour next year. Lemonade, cookies & all.

Thank you all for checking in and for all the enthusiasm for your own gardens throughout my apprentice & rookie year last season.

~ Your own, Shawna

another view; i had so many daffs, tulips, hyacinths, Narcissus that i had a full vase for all the neighbors, friends and anyone who stopped by in the month of April.

A fuzzy Tulip.

I would fold down the petals on some tulips to make them look like irises

Oooh, girl you got it bad! No cure for you, just keep feeding that iris addiction!. We'll all with yah!

Let us know when the garden tour is next year and we'll all come down!

Wow! No old swimming pool would ever give you this much wonder! Crimson Twist is lovely. Thanks for sharing all of them.

Susan

Now, all you need is a few daylilies mixed in. CT is a beauty. My camera batteries are dead, but I did get a few more pics. I have been waiting 2 years for FADE TO BLACK to bloom. Soulja, did you plant any black ones?

that ol' pool was the bane of my existence. Loud, hard to clean, kids too big anyway....
I bribed them by saying one day we'd get an in ground pool, (when ???....)

I just thought of you Teresa when I put a gang of Prarie Blue Eyes (which are purple) in there but it's hard to find Tulips & daylilies.... actually any bulbs or fans for the blue section... That's a gorgeous clump ya got there and my, what a YARD!

Midnight Oil is my darkest black so far and IT HAS BUDS!!!! here's Rapture In Blue

CHERRY SMOKE

DARCY'S CHOICE

EYE OF THE TIGER

I just put Lilies around the back edge of the bed.

your flowers are beautiful

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Sista Soulja-so very lovely!! You have yourself a little bit of heaven there! Love-Kath

Your garden is awesome, love all the bulbs and Iris. I have a built in pool, I would love to plant flowers in its place.

thaaaaanks! Can't wait 'til tomorrows budding surprises..... what a total thrill.

Isn't it just the greatest thing to see the new irises you've never seen in your own garden?

I like the same color groups together, too, Soulja. A lot of people can mix them up and they look great. In my own garden I don't care for it. You'll find once you know the iris you can easily tell it from it's neighbor, unless they are a really close match.

polly do you ever find yourself moving them from one spot to the next, no matter how close? i've wondered how far I'd go to maintain each irises integrity now that they're popping to real life, instead of knowing them just through the catalog...

I move mine all the time, no matter when it is. If I see a place I think one would look good, there it goes. Especially if I see another iris that would compliment the first one. And then the next year different ones bloom, and there they go again.

At first I tried to make a list, this one would look good next to that one, etc. But by the time it's the best time to move them, I've forgotten how great they look together, or am on to other things, so I do it when the mood strikes.

I try not to get them too close together, so they won't grow into each other. Although except for trading and show off purposes, I wouldn't care about their names, but I do keep them well labeled for that purpose.

My gardens are all tree, shrub and herbaceous gardens, so there normally would be another plant in between the iris, which makes it easier to keep the irises seperate.

Did I answer your question?

spot on my friend and very good, you sound like me. I suppose then they don't mind so much being moved around. I'm the type of person that moves my furniture around constantly... i can't imagine my irises staying put forever in one place. Thank you polly.

Soulja, I totally agree with you...1yr at DG = 6 yrs experience! I've been learning so much too!
I actually went to my neighborhood's garden walk this yr....NONE of the gardens were as beautiful as our DG's group!

EYE OF THE TIGER is BEAUUUTIFUL!!!!!

Thanks daltri!
It just popped up yesterday
and really surprised me.

closer